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That said, the whole idea of a mother’s failures being the downfall of the country is a special kind of good old fashioned American woman-hating. Angela Lansbury delivers a performance that renders the character utterly reprehensible and unforgivable. The idea that an ambitious woman is more dangerous than world powers that have extreme scientific advances in the realm of psychology is, quite frankly, sickening.
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The mother is set up to be the ultimate villain. Now, let me get to my real issue with this movie: it reeks of misogyny.
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The clash of the mundane and “the evil” is a chilling way to set us up for constant doubt and paranoia for the rest of the film. There’s a jarring effect created by the juxtaposition of the mundane droning on of the women’s club and the scientific enthusiasm and twisted plotting. It cuts back and forth from what the soldiers see (a boring talk from a ladies’ garden club) to the panel of red leaders from all of the world in an amphitheater decorated with huge portraits of Stalin and Moa in the background, in case you forgot what side this sinister cabal was on. One of the most effective scenes in the film is the demonstration of brainwashing by the Communist scientist. Eventually, we realize that his mommy issues are the key. Marco is tasked with deprogramming Shaw, who lives a sad and lonely life haunted by his mother’s overbearing shadow. Marco gains a high-up position in the military and Shaw works for a newspaper relishing in writing smear pieces against his simpleton presidential-hopeful Conservative stepfather (James Gregory), who is merely a pawn for the domineering Mrs. Without revealing too much of the plot’s twist and turns, I’ll say that they are returned home suddenly with warm feelings for Raymond Shaw. During a mission they are deceived and captured by a group of sinister Communist scientists who intensely brainwash them. Of course, his fellow soldiers find him intolerable. He is a cold and prim rich boy who thinks they’re all lowly trash. However, their leader, Shaw, is a wet blanket. They are a gang of rough and tough men, the typical everymen of the 1960s, cutting loose during wartime: drinking, gambling, and objectifying and exotifying the local women. The film opens with the company of Marco and Shaw at the Chinese/Korean border during the Korean War. That being said, it has an amazing handle on the psychological power of editing and features wonderful performances by everyone involved. Centering around the struggles of two soldiers, Major Marco (Frank Sinatra) and Raymond Shaw (Laurence Harvey) after being kidnapped and brainwashed by Communists, the film mainly concerns the American military and political handling of The Red Scare, taking an inherently critically flawed and culturally problematic viewpoint. However, given the film’s message about patriotism and military force, I don’t think it’s the safest comparison to modern events. It was talked about a lot these past four years, since during the Trump presidency people were experiencing increased Russophobia and witnessing Eastern European scandals and intrigue. The Manchurian Candidate is a masterpiece of Cold War paranoia and pro-American propaganda, visually stunning and chilling.